Dice, Camera, Action!: Errands in the Dark
by Wramysis
Summary: What is Diath up to when he leaves on those secret morning errands, and just how far will he go to keep his family safe?


Towards the end of Season 4, DCA began to accumulate more and more unfinished plot threads. The topic of Diath's mysterious morning errands intrigued me, so I decided to write a little fic about what he might possibly be up to, and tie up some of those loose ends in the process. This takes place after episode 131. Enjoy!

* * *

Right on schedule, the internal alarm in Diath's head awakened him an hour before dawn. He scowled at the sleeping bodies surrounding him in Paultin's hut, having gotten used to the convenience of sneaking out of his own room unnoticed.

Tiptoing his way around them, he managed not to trip over anything despite the darkness, and breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way down into the wine cellar. His hand felt along the carved stone walls until they found the nook where he had stashed a half-burnt torch, then carefully struck at his flint until the pitch caught light.

From the same nook, he drew out a large iron key, and walked over to the reinforced door blocking the entrance to the sewers beneath Trollskull Manor. He deftly inserted the key and pulled the door open, relieved that he had greased the hinges enough that they wouldn't squeal. He wrinkled his nose as the smell of the passageway hit him, but he comforted himself in the knowledge that he wouldn't have to go any deeper inside. Ahmaergo was already standing there.

_"Hail Xanathar!"_ the dwarf greeted, raising his gauntleted fist.

Diath put on a grave expression. "Any news?"

Ahmaergo fingered his matted beard thoughtfully. "Something wakes in the Undermountain. Large rats and other _things_ are escaping into these tunnels. But Ahmaergo has been keeping your lair safe."

Diath nodded gratefully and handed him a silver coin. The dwarf added it to a bag at his waist that already bulged noticeably. Diath doubted Ahmaergo had spent a single one, likely unwilling to part with such personal gifts from his master.

"Be safe, Ahmeargo," Diath cautioned him. The dwarf flashed him a smile and swung his axe in an impressive display, before roaring like a madman and dashing through the tunnels. Diath cringed at the noise and quickly snuck back into the cellar.

After locking the door, snuffing out the torch and replacing it and the key into their hiding spot, Diath felt his way through the darkness back into the tap room. The magic of the hut shimmered slightly, allowing him to avoid it as he dodged past the chairs and tables and silently unfastened the bolts on the front door.

Once outside, he drew in a deep breath of cool, fresh air. It was the hour of the wolf, the false dawn when the light was just faint enough to see while still keeping you in shadow. It was the time of night when the blood of all thieves pulsed in excitement, and although Diath considered himself a breed apart from the common criminal, to _this_ he was no exception.

Lighthearted, he dashed through the streets unseen, making his way to the Spires. He should reach it just as the priests of Lathander began their morning prayers. Evelyn too, would be rising right about now. Diath wondered how the restoration of her holy weapon would fit into her morning recital. Telastin had hinted that Lightfall would become a powerful relic of the church, enough to justify the price of the mythril diadem they had given up. Diath worried that the church might try to use the guilt of that loss as a means to tie Evelyn more tightly to them. Diath had hoped to pay for the restoration himself with the money on loan from the C Team and the money he had acquired from the Xanathar's hoard, but he was still short. He was therefore forced to beg for assistance from the Spires - originally from Father Sunbright, and then Telastin the drow. While Sunbright claimed to be all too happy to help his former pupil, he had charged Diath with multiple secret tasks in return, all with the goal of helping him secure more power. Diath had grown uncomfortable with his tyrannical behavior, but in the end, the priest had died before the transaction could be completed. Thankfully, Telastin was still willing to carry out the original arrangement, although Diath had a feeling she would attach her own conditions to their deal.

The church's front doors were wide open for parishioners to join in the morning devotions, but Diath had spent enough time in the Spires to know the secret passages that went straight to Telastin's office. He found her seated at her desk, and to Diath's surprise, so was Jarlaxle. Diath had a flash of memory of seeing Jarlaxle's shadowy figure right after Sunbright's poisoning, and his eyes darted across her desk to see if she had been drinking anything. Jarlaxle seemed to recognize immediately what he was doing, and smiled.

"Be at ease, Diath. I would never dream of trying to poison Lathander's new 'lord of the Dawn'. Besides which, it would be very difficult to mask the taste of sun-death from a fellow drow."

The priestess's blind eyes narrowed. "Do not speak so lightly of your heinous deeds in Lathander's house, even if your cause was just."

Jarlaxle bowed his head apologetically. "Yes, of course. Well then, I shall leave you two to catch up." He swept his large hat before him and bowed gracefully, before escaping out the same secret door Diath had entered from. Diath stared after him to be certain he was really gone, his instincts screaming at him not to leave his back exposed.

"I take it the trip went well?" Telastin asked, drawing his attention back to her. "I would have liked for Evelyn to have accompanied you here, and Lightfall as well, which we paid such a high price to see restored."

"I don't know what kind of danger you foresaw we'd find, or what you expected Jarlaxle would do to protect us," Diath told her. "Someone was following us, but we escaped before they attacked." He would not flat out accuse her of lying, but finding Jarlaxle in her office only deepened Diath's suspicions.

"Jarlaxle may have yet to fulfill his role in your story," said the priestess cryptically. "The dice are but a tool - they show _hints_, but not full knowledge."

Diath would have argued longer, but he had a schedule to keep. "I'll bring Evelyn next time. But I would appreciate it if you kept our deal a secret from her. She doesn't need to know how much it cost."

The drow pursed her lips in consideration. "Very well. As long as _you_ remember, Lorcatha."

Diath tried to hide the cringe he felt deep inside, before he remembered that she could not see his face anyway. He muttered a hasty farewell and dashed out of the study.

The Waterdeep magistrate offices were thankfully not far. He flashed his City Watch badge at the guard, who stepped aside to let him enter. He looked at the names posted alongside each courthouse door, shivering slightly as he passed that of the dwarf who had sentenced him to the Waterdeep prisons. Pernicia Harpell was now in one of those cells - the sole reason for this visit.

He knocked at another door, opening it to find the stern elf magistrate he had met on several prior occasions when the urchins had been summoned to appear at Pernicia's trial. Diath had instead gotten them to write testimonials that the wizard had stolen Waffles and chased them recklessly through the streets, in order to spare them the need to appear at court themselves. The whole reason the urchins had been left in his friends' care was to protect them from Pernicia and her Xanathar associates, and it would be unsafe to bring them here where they would be exposed to danger.

Seated across from the elf was Frent Ebernecker, Pernicia's lawyer. Diath eyed the frumpy, short man with badly parted hair who represented all of the _ex_-Xanathar's associates. That solicitor had brought Ott Steeltoes to Diath's own trial to try and implicate Diath in the beholder's crimes. Diath had not exactly lied when he had answered the accusation by telling the dwarf magistrate that the Xanathar was dead. The fact that Diath was still secretly running some of the Xanathar's more legitimate businesses was not widely known. Yet he wondered who now paid this lawyer's bill, if not him. Likely it was Pernicia herself.

"I was just telling his honor, Magistrate Swallowsong, that my client has agreed to a payment of up to ten-thousand gold for her immediate release. That should more than make up for any emotional damages the kidnapping of your beast might have caused. I would remind everyone that no harm came to the animal, and no damages were incurred during the chase through the city."

The elf raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow at Diath. "What do you think of this offer? The City is satisfied with the twenty-one days Miss Harpell has already spent in prison as payment for disturbing the peace. However, the case you and your friends brought against her for theft of property, namely your pet, is a separate matter. Do you accept her fine? The city will take a thirty-percent cut, of course."

Diath's mind spun. Even minus the City's cut, that was a huge sum of money. Despite having recently handled a diadem worth fifty-thousand gold, and being told by Paultin that Aquisitions Inc now owed them fifty-thousand for Manshoon's cloak, Diath still couldn't wrap his head around such vast wealth. To think that the hidden hoard that Esvele Rasznar was after was worth five-hundred thousand! It was no wonder so many people were after it. He had tried doing the math to figure out how to fairly split the treasure between everyone, but he had a feeling no one would be satisfied with less than the entire share.

Frent cleared his throat, reminding Diath that they awaited an answer. If he accepted their offer, the trial would be over, and the urchins would no longer need their protection. But hadn't Diath and his friends already decided to adopt the children anyway? And even if the kids were no longer needed as witnesses, once free, there was nothing to stop Pernicia from taking her revenge against all of them.

Diath clenched his fists. As much as he wanted to keep that woman in jail forever, the longest she could stay behind bars for burglary was three months. She would get out eventually.

"All right, deal accepted," Diath said grimly, shaking the solicitor's hand. The man grinned, then withdrew a sack of coins from his coat, handing it over to the magistrate. The elf poured the platinum pieces onto his desk, put apart his own share, and then swept the rest back into the bag and handed it to Diath.

"Do not be too disappointed, Captain Woodrow," the magistrate told him, as if reading his thoughts. "There are limits to what the law allows us to do, _but we must trust that justice will be served in the end."_

Diath shook his head and walked out, hiding the purse inside his tunic. He headed to the City Watch barracks across the street, this time gaining entrance with a mere nod, as his face was well known there.

"Captain Woodrow!" called out Alise Keladonna, recognizing him from afar. She raced up to him and smiled sheepishly. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon! Did you find Audra Knell?"

"In a matter of speaking," Diath told her. "Do you mind if we talk in your office?" Evelyn's suspicions about a deeper relationship between him and Alise suddenly came back to him, and he blushed, wondering if the other Captain really thought of him that way. Maybe secluding themselves in her office wasn't the best idea, but she was already eagerly leading him through the building. Things had always been professional between the two of them, but Diath would be on his guard in case he noticed her giving him any other signals.

Sweeping the door open and motioning him inside, Alise grinned and hung up her captain's hat on a pole. "What can I do for you, Diath?"

"Your men were handed over a mannequin of some kind last night, to take back to the Watchful Order for inspection. I wanted to warn you that it acts like a gate key, and pulls you into another dimension. That's where we think Audra Knell is hiding."

Alise nodded as she wrote the information down. "Got it. I'll tell them to be careful. Does this have anything to do with the explosion at your house? Your neighbors were pretty upset."

Diath winced. "I paid one of them for damages. I know we've had some issues with disturbing the peace, but are we at risk of being fined by the City?" He thought of the coins beneath his vest, and how much it might cost him.

Alise pursed her lips. "If you were a _normal_ citizen, you might. But Larael Silverhand herself said to give you leave to go about your business in the City, and we all assume that includes whatever you and your friends have going on at that house. At least you've been giving the Carpenters, Roofers, and Plasterers Guild plenty of business. And I hear your girlfriend's bakery has drawn a lot of customers, lately."

Diath was too stunned to reply. Alise smiled at him and cradled his chin with a soft hand. "I knew there had to be a reason you weren't picking up on my signals, Diath Woodrow, so I did a little investigating of my own. I'm happy for you two, I really am."

He nodded dumbly, too shaken to deny her words. She laughed at him gently and began pushing him out the door. "You better go before people start suspecting we're up to something. Though don't forget, there are a few cases you're still supposed to be working on in your free time. Remember those trash monsters? And we never found out what happened to that food critic who suddenly vanished."

Diath felt that it was definitely time to leave. "Ok, I promise I'll get back to you soon. Just one more thing." He dug around in his pocket for the coin Paultin had handed him many nights ago, in exchange for the promise that Diath would help him get to the bottom of his wife's murder. "Alise, your careful research into those drow murderers already helped us solve one mystery. I was hoping you could help us solve another." He pressed the coin into her hand.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked, examining the moss-covered metal in the dim light of her office.

"There's a gang of thugs that leave coins like that behind after a murder. Could you look through the records for the last few times such a coin was found at the scene? I need a lead to follow. But if you can, please keep this between us. I'm not sure what other...secrets you might uncover."

Alise studied him intently, then nodded. "All right, I will. Thank you for your trust."

Diath smiled at her gratefully, then accompanied her back outside. Glancing up at the rising sun, he realized that he didn't have much time left. He raced to his next destination.

* * *

He had saved the toughest errand for last.

Diath sat with his back pressed up against a beam supporting the edge of the pier, gazing out at a ship named _Eyecatcher_. It did not take long for his presence to be noted, and for an expected visitor to arrive.

"I admit, your offer intrigues me. Not quite the job I would have expected from a Captain of the City Watch."

Diath grimaced as Jarlaxle came into view. He wished there had been someone else he could have turned to, but the only other assassin Diath knew had worked for Manshoon, and the next time Diath saw Urstol Floxin, he swore it would be the last.

"I need to be sure justice is served," Diath said, remembering the elf magistrate's parting words. For some strange reason, Diath suddenly pictured Paultin wearing that ridiculous black hooded cloak, saying those same words. Diath shook his head to dispel that disturbing image.

_"She won't suffer?"_ Diath asked, more because he thought he should than because he actually cared.

"The effect of sun-death is quite instantaneous, I assure you. You saw it twice yourself."

Diath felt a moment of doubt about this plan, then buried it deep inside. He was only doing what was necessary to keep his family safe. "And you'll take care of the body so that she isn't found?"

"Of _course_," purred the drow. "As for payment-"

Diath thrust the bag of platinum coins at him. Jarlaxle tipped the bag over, and Diath watched as his one uncovered eye widened in surprise.

"I would have done it for a fraction of this."

_"Keep it._ I don't want anything to do with that money."

Jarlaxle watched him a long moment, then nodded. "It will be as you ask, and no one shall be the wiser." He turned to go, then looked over his shoulder at Diath and said, "Generous a gift though this may be, do not think this makes things square between us. I still expect you to hand me the dragon hoard. I will be watching."

The moment he sensed that the drow had truly left, Diath raced back through the streets to Trollskull Alley. He felt lighter now that the sack of dirty money was off him, and from the knowledge that Pernicia would not be a threat to them for much longer.

He reached the front porch just as Strix's three bakers arrived for their shift. He handed one of them the grocery items Strix had mentioned they needed, then let his feet automatically lead him up to the attic where his bed would be waiting for him. It wasn't until he was at the third story landing looking up at the sunny sky that he remembered that his room didn't exist any more.

"Get all your errands done, Diath?" Evelyn asked him cheerily, peering down at him from the edge of the half-ruined turret. Lightfall gleamed from her hands like a second sun. In that pure radiance, Diath could practically see the darkness that stained his own soul. He felt filthy and unworthy, and shied back into the shadows. Evelyn, however, seemed not to notice his discomfort, and floated down to him.

"Diath, you look so tired. Didn't you get enough sleep? _Here,_ let me carry you."

He was too exhausted to feel embarrassed as Evelyn picked him up as easily as if he were a doll, and carried him down to Strix's bedroom. It was peaceful and quiet there, and he briefly wondered why the kids weren't making any noise. Were they ok? _Had Pernicia already gotten to them?_

"Kids-" Diath muttered, but Evelyn hushed him and lay him carefully on the bed, drawing the sheets over him.

"They're at the neighbor's house. They're safe."

"Evelyn, I'm so-sorry," he stuttered, but she surprised him with a light kiss to the forehead. She smiled fondly at him as he looked at her in surprise.

"Diath, you do so much for this family. You have nothing to be sorry about. We are all very lucky to have you. Now please, get some sleep. It's our turn to watch over you."

Comforted by her words, and the knowledge that this group would never abandon him no matter what dark things he had done, he allowed himself to fall into the forgetfulness of sleep. Tomorrow there would be more work to be done, and he needed what little strength he had left to see it through.


End file.
